1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to hand operable devices for scooping material and, more particularly, to a device which is suitable for the collection and retention of animal feces and litter for subsequent disposal.
2. Prior Art
The general public is continually annoyed and bothered by the presence of animal excrement on the community's streets, sidewalks, and grassy areas. The public in many towns has expressed this displeasure through the enactment of ordinances requiring animal owners to pick up after their pets. Of course, there are a conscious number of pet owners who, appreciating the hygienic problems and general inconveniences created by animal excrement, take it upon themselves to clean up after their animals.
Various devices have been developed over the years which attempt to solve this problem. These cover the gamut from the pet owner carrying a small shovel and broom to less cumbersome devices which are hand held and disposable. Many of the latter type, simple devices, are disclosed in such patents as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,848,906; 3,857,597; 4,148,510; and 4,188,055. Generally, these prior devices have been found in practice to be relatively complicated or expensive to fabricate, difficult to use, or simply ineffective for the intended purpose.
One practical problem associated with these prior techniques is that many of them require the use of two hands. This virtually makes it impossible for a pet owner, having a medium or large size, active dog leashed to one hand, to collect the excrement. The dog must be tied to a stationary object first.
Those devices which are operable by using only one hand have been found to be limited in the amount of feces that can be collected at one time. Obviously, for a larger dog, a limited volume of such devices precludes their general usefulness. This typically results due of the fact that the operator's hand spans the volume encompassed by the collector. Conscious of this, the manufacturer must provide a device which can be gripped by the hand, eventually in a closed position, comfortably, but yet still provide sufficient volume to allow for collection of varying amounts of feces. Obviously, such a device does not have wide appeal, since it must accommodate varying hand sizes, including those of children.
Further, it is desirable for any such device to be able to be locked in a closed position once the feces has been collected, for ease of disposal.
Therefore, to provide a single-hand operated device with this additional capability imposes restrictions which heretofore have been difficult to meet.
Therefore, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a one-hand operated device for collecting animal excrement which also provides a means for locking the device once the feces material has been picked up. The actual locking of the device can be done with the same hand, thus allowing the put owner to maintain even an active animal on his leash.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a relatively inexensive device fabricated from cardboard material and offered to the animal user in flat sheet form, but readily assembled into the finished device for use as the need arises.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a hand-held operable device which has generally greater volume than prior art devices, and thus useful with animals where it can be expected the excrement amount is excessive.